So anyone who has or is considering powder coating their wheels wonders how the end result will look. It's hard to know without dropping a lot of money to just get it done. It's also only really viable to do when you are changing your tires as well.
With plasti-dip you can get a good result for a lot cheaper and you do not need to wait until you need new tires either. The total cost for this was a grand total of $24 bucks.
Materials
-Plasti-dip in spray can form (color of your choice) at least 3 cans
-index cards
-tools to removed wheels and hardware
-shop towels
-old newpaper or magazines
-wheel degreaser/rubbing alcohol
-about 1.5 days without your bike being operational
Step One - Removal of Wheels
I wont go into much detail here since there are plenty of other guides out there for removing your wheels. I will recommend that you hold your brakes up by something instead of letting them dangle. I used the rear passenger peg for the rear brake and some speaker wire for the front brakes.
Step Two - Remove all wheel hardware
I chose to leave on the stem caps and the wheel weights (only had one on front) but that is completely up to you. Everything else needs to go!
Step Three - Wash those wheels!
You want to remove all of the grease from your wheels and make them look like new. I chose to use my bathtub for easy cleanup and a better environment. I first sprayed the wheel degreaser on the wheels and let it sit for a few minutes before washing thoroughly with water. I then reapplied more degreaser and used a sponge to really remove everything possible. Do this for the entirety of each wheel. If you have any really stubborn spots with chain lube, use rubbing alcohol. Please make sure you ventilate the area properly.
Step Four - Wheel prep
Now you want to really set yourself up for success. Once you start spraying the plasti-dip you really wont have much opportunity to change anything. I used electrical tape to cover the threads for the calipers and just cut a circle out of a index card or magazine page to cover the center area. Then I placed index cards in a circle between the tire and wheel. You want to block out any vision of the tire's surface but if any does happen to get through it is no big deal. It will come off of the tire easily without coming off of the wheel.
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Last edited by Ovinus; 10-29-2012 at 02:24 PM.
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I have never used this product before or ever even spray painted anything before. This stuff is pretty simple to use but I will be the first to admit I was really nervous on the first layer. You will want to do at least 4 layers of this stuff to get an even coat. Wait 20-30 minutes between each coat depending on the ambient temperature. It was about 60 degrees here so I waited 25 for each layer. I did both wheels at a time to speed up the process. Add more layers if you want. The more layers you add the easier the plasti-dip is to remove later. You basically want to have the can about 6 inches away from the surface and go back and forth as you spray. The first coat does not need to be even or perfect. You want it to have a good bit of transparency still. This will be the coat that adheres to the surface. Make sure you get all angles and try to spray perpendicular to the surface at all times, never spraying in one spot without moving.
FIRST COAT
THIRD COAT
As you can see I have some very obvious defects by the third coat. I've never used this before so gotta cut me some slack. Two of my cans looked like they were newer and one of my cans of plast-dip looked older. DO NOT BUY THE OLDER LOOKING KIND. The spray nozzles are GARBAGE. This is the reason for my visible defects. They splurt out chunks everywhere sometimes. The way to circumvent this is to add more and more layers. I added 5 to this wheel in the end and it concealed most of the problems. I also decided, after this, to use the old can only for the base coats of each tire and then once one of my newer cans emptied out i took the nozzle and put it on the older can. Good as new.
FIFTH COAT
ON THE LAST COAT make sure you remove all of your preparations. Take out the electrical tape, center cover, and index cards immediately after you finish spraying! You do not want to let the plasti-dip dry before you do this otherwise you risk peeling it off of the wheel. If you do accidentally wait for it to dry, use a razor blade to cut the coverings off and pray you dont remove anything crucial. Wait AT LEAST 12 hours for the final coat to dry. You will want it to be as solid as possible before putting everything back together.
Step Six - Assemble everything back where it goes
Wont go into too much detail here. Try really hard to NOT get grease on the newly colored surface. Its just a pain to remove. It will come off, it just sucks to see happen after this work. I ended up getting a lot on my back tires but I washed it so gently and nothing came off....so I started scrubbing like hell with a sponge and soap and that did the trick. This stuff is a lot more resilient than I was expecting. I got paint on some of the tire but it literally just falls off if you brush it since it wasn't layered there on purpose.
End Result
I'm quite happy with the end result for $24.
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Not bad good job... Should through some clear coat on. I did my car Rims back last Nov. still holding up minus a few flakes. But for $30 couldn't beat it!
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Thanks for the write-up. I'm not planning on plasti-dipping my wheels, but the info is useful for other stuff, especially your prep details. Bike looks great, by the way!
If you would, keep this updated with periodic pictures over time to see how well it holds up. I want to do this, but will wait and see how well it holds up.
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I did 5 coats on that one side of the front only because one of my layers was thinner and also that is when I realized I needed the coat to be wet to remove the electrical tape and center cover. After 5 coats on that one and 4 on all of the others I still have about 1/4th of the last can left.
One side until done, then flip. You want to minimize movement during this process as much as possible. Also, be careful of windy conditions. They can lift the plasti-dip as it is drying.
The material is very rubbery so I do not believe chipping will occur. I do expect it to get dirty and maybe lift in areas. Luckily you can re-liquify it and re-apply. I'll probably just rip it all off if it happens and go for a powder-coat or try the blue plasti-dip instead.
the weight is silver so i thought it would stick out too much plus I was SUPER worried putting it back on might scratch or start to remove the plasti-dip. Hopefully I can keep the wheels white for a year or so. My roomate has had it on his car for a few years now and just touches it up every year or so.
I would have popped off the weight and put it back on afterwards. How long do you plan on keeping them white with the plasti-dip?
is there any reason why you would want the weights off? And if they are taken off do you need to get the wheel adjusted again after putting the weights back on?
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idk if someone has posted this but you dont have to tape off the wheel, it peels off rubber perfect and stays on the rim. i did it to my car
This is very true. There is no need to use tape or even the index cards like I did. It just makes clean-up a LOT quicker and easier. It took less than a minute to put the cards in.
is there any reason why you would want the weights off? And if they are taken off do you need to get the wheel adjusted again after putting the weights back on?
Maybe the reason for removing the weights is so there is plasti-dip under them. If you get new tires or a re-alignment the weight distribution will be different so there will be a dead spot of paint where the weight was. I still have a lot of life left on my tires and will probably fork out the money for a powder-coat when the time comes. This was all a test to see how I liked the color and soon a test to see how hard it is to keep clean.
Do the wheel weights adhere to it ok if you take them off ahead of time?
Making an assumption: but I think you would have to take them off, then have the wheels rebalanced. Ideally, the best time to do this is right before you have new tires mounted. It would be one smooth transition.
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